ATHENS, Tenn. - Despite the Tennessee Wesleyan and CIU men's basketball teams trending in opposite directions this season, the Bulldogs have had the Rams number twice as CIU fell to TWU 76-59 on Monday evening. The loss is CIU's first since their defeat at the hands of the Bulldogs in November. CIU moves to 14-2 overall and 9-2 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC).

The Rams' only lead of the evening came at the 17:42 mark in the first half as a Johnny Whysong layin put CIU up 6-4. The Rams would then trail by as much as 11 before cutting the lead to 35-29 by halftime.

The Rams were within two, 50-48, with 9:51 left in the game, but the Bulldogs slowly but surely built their lead. CIU continued to hold the TWU advantage to single digits, but the game slipped away in the contest's final five minutes as the Rams were faced with their first double-digit loss of the season.

Brandon Hunt led CIU in scoring, posting a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Whysong was the only other player with a double-digit scorer with ten.

CIU entered the evening as the best 3-point shooting team in the AAC but struggled from beyond the arc, going 3-of-28.

Up Next: CIU faces off with Bryan College (Tenn.) on Saturday, Jan. 25 p.m. ET in Columbia. The winner of Saturday's contest will hold sole possession of first place in the AAC